


Her Name Is Alice

by 6YearsABrave



Series: Into the Ocean [2]
Category: Baseball RPF, Sports RPF
Genre: 2015 - Freeform, Alcohol Poisoning, Alternate Universe, Atlanta Braves, Cheating, Childbirth, Drowning, Euthanasia, Funeral, Island - Freeform, Multi, Sick baby, Wedding, epidemic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-06-06 14:19:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6757585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/6YearsABrave/pseuds/6YearsABrave
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the arrival of three new inhabitants, the fate of the island takes a drastic, unexpected turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Name Is Alice

The sky became noticeably brighter as water continued to drench the deck of the boat. And in turn, with each sloshing, ruthless wave, it drenched a figure on the deck and rocked two more below deck. The man at the helm tried his hardest to gain some semblance of control. The sea had been wild tonight.

_Whoosh!_ Another huge wave drenched him. He started to shiver as lightning flashed in the distance. When the bolt lit up his surroundings, he thought he saw some dark _thing_ on the horizon ahead.

Squinting his eyes, he couldn’t quite make out what it was. There was definitely no lighthouse nearby, and it looked too flat and wide to be a ship or creature. 

The man attempted to wipe the water from his eyes, to no avail. Soon, he told himself, they’d reach that thing up ahead, and the sun would rise, and he and his family would be safe – hopefully.

 

_Splotch!_

“Alice!” Brandon Beachy cautioned his daughter. “Look out!”

Alice Minor-Beachy only laughed, a cute, babyish laugh. Her parents, Mike and Brandon, couldn’t believe she was going to be about one year old soon. She splashed mud onto Joy Floyd-Ivory, her constant playmate and best friend, and also Shae, the friendly monkey that was Jonny Venters’ pet. Joy only laughed. Mud was everywhere this morning – last night there had been a storm. 

But the inhabitants of the island had been safe and sound in their comfortable shelters. 

“Hi, guys,” Bubba Ivory said as she came over to them along with Gavin Floyd. 

“Hey,” Mike and Brandon replied. Alice tried to greet them, but all that came out was a friendly sound. The others all smiled.

Suddenly Tyler Pastornicky, Andrelton Simmons, and Chris Johnson came barreling past them toward the beach.

“Whoa,” Bubba exclaimed. “What’s going on, guys?”

“We think we saw something off the shore,” Johnson replied.

“We’re gonna go check it out,” Tyler added.

“Whatever,” Gavin said, turning his attention back to the babies.

When the adventurous trio reached the beach they were taken by surprise. Before them sat a beautiful boat, not too much smaller than their original ship that they crashed offshore what seemed like ages ago. For a minute the three of them just stood there in awe. On the clean white hull was the word _Stella_.

Before any of them could say anything an anchor fell from one side and made a great splash in the water, and three people made their way into a lifeboat. When they reached the shore a man with tan skin and dark brown hair said, “Thank goodness, there are people here!”

“Hi,” Johnson said. “You guys lost?”

“Kind of,” the man replied. “Our navigation computer isn’t working and the bad storm last night made us pretty much lose sight of everything. I’m Tommy La Stella, by the way, and these are my sister and brother, Shelby and Kelly.” Tommy looked to be about twenty-six or so, and both of his siblings were younger. Shelby was a pretty girl, about twenty-three, with long, sandy-golden hair. Their littler, teenage brother Kelly was very short and thin with wispy, almost downy hair and big eyes. He looked small and vulnerable, as far as Johnson was concerned. 

“Welcome to the island, then,” Andrelton put in. Each of the Braves introduced themselves.

“So, exactly what island is this?” Tommy asked, taking in the beautiful scenery. “I know it’s not Madagascar.”

Johnson looked to Andrelton, who looked to Tyler, who looked back to Johnson. “Uh…”

“Brave Island,” Johnson said after a pause.

“No, New Atlanta,” Tyler put in.

Andrelton sighed. “It doesn’t have a name,” he told the La Stellas. 

The three siblings looked at each other. “So, it’s just you three here, then?” Shelby asked.

Tyler jumped up to answer her. “Oh no,” he said, smiling and letting out a puff of air. “There’s a whole bunch of us. We used to be a baseball team.”

“A whole baseball team?” Shelby looked like she was impressed.

“Yeah,” Tyler went on. 

“How did you get here?” Tyler told her, along with how they’d made their living there and had ultimately grown so much closer in the process. They had been through a lot, and Tyler was pleased to know that Shelby would be sharing in that soon. 

“What’s over there?” Shelby asked him, pointing up the beach to several mounds of stones on the sand.

“Oh,” Tyler’s face darkened. “That’s the cemetery.”

“Cemetery?”

“Yeah. We’ve lost several members of our family – one way or another. But don’t concern yourself with that now. Come on! Let me show you the rest of this place. I think you’ll probably like it.” He reached for Shelby’s hand and led her into the trees.

 

“So wait a minute,” Kelly La Stella said to Johnson as they staked out a spot for construction for a new shelter. “We’re just going to live here from now on?”

“Yep,” Johnson said, as if it were a completely normal situation. “Your brother said the _Stella_ can’t navigate anymore.”

“And I’ll never go back to the United States?”

“That’s not completely out of the question,” Johnson said. “But it’s unlikely. I mean, this place isn’t on any map. It’s too small and isolated. It’s just us out here – in our own little world.” Kelly was a bit disconcerted by Johnson’s big, intense blue eyes and his fateful words, and took a step back from him. Johnson could tell that the boy was somewhat sad at their unexpected move. 

All the inhabitants of the island introduced themselves to the La Stellas. When Julio Teheran stepped out the door of his shelter to see what all the commotion was, he smiled at the new faces. He was followed out by David Carpenter and Alex Wood. 

“I guess we could help out with the new shelter,” David said.

“Sure,” Julio agreed. 

Meanwhile, Shelby kept asking Tyler questions about life on the island. He showed her everything there was to see, including the Fate Tree.

“Why is it called the Fate Tree?” She asked him.

“Because it’s been a crucial part of several of our fates. Some bad things have happened here…but also some pretty good things.” 

“Like what good things?”

“Like – marriage proposals. And…”

Shelby’s face was expectant. “What?”

He looked at her like they both knew what he was thinking, but he wouldn’t say it out loud. Having her there made it much more awkward. “You know.”

 

“I can’t believe you have this…cool little secret society out here in the middle of the ocean. I never would have expected it.”

Tyler laughed quietly. “Well, when you put it that way…” They were still out walking together, now along the beach. It was a beautiful evening, and the first stars were poking out. “Just a few years ago I would never have expected it either. Or that I’d be a part of it.” He looked at her, then he looked up. “The stars are beautiful here.”

“I bet they are.”

Tyler looked back at her. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. A melancholy note had crept into her voice. “It’s just that – this guy I used to know – he and I used to look at the stars every night. It was kind of our thing.”

Tyler thought for a second. “What happened to him? I mean, you don’t have to say, if you don’t want.”

Shelby shook her head. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s just, I still don’t understand it. When he left he said, ‘Shelby, you’re just too…I don’t know. Something rubs me the wrong way. I need something more’ and that was it. Just like that. I thought it was love. I thought wrong.”

“Oh, Shelby,” Tyler said, immediately wanting to hurt the man that hurt her. 

“No, it’s not your fault,” she said, putting a hand up. “I should’ve known better.”

Tyler stopped and stood in front of her. “No, Shelby,” he said with conviction. “He’s the one that was wrong.”

Shelby couldn’t help but smile at that. 

“I saw that,” he said, starting to laugh.

She let out a puff of air. “I mean, does love really exist?” She wrung her hands. “Ever since then…I don’t think so.”

“Shelby,” Tyler said with care. He put out his hands to her. “No.” Their hands brushed when Shelby pulled hers back. Tyler seemed to miss a beat. “I mean, no, not like that, it does exist. Ugh…” He scratched the back of his neck, as if he’d said the wrong thing or made himself look foolish.

But Shelby didn’t think he was being foolish. She chuckled. 

 

Bubba Ivory woke up the following morning, and something was different. It had seemed like a normal night – Gavin lay next to her, still soundly sleeping. She smiled down at him. She heard monkeys playing happily in the trees above her head. 

Suddenly she lurched forward unexpectedly. A terrible wave of nausea had hit her out of nowhere. She immediately grabbed Gavin’s arm, waking him up.

“I think I’ve got morning sickness.” It was barely a whisper.

“M-morning sickness?” Gavin asked groggily as he turned over to try and sit up. “You don’t mean…”

“Yeah,” she said. “It feels just like when I was pregnant with Joy.” She made a face and resisted the urge to throw up.

Gavin sat up slowly, glancing over at their daughter, who still slept a few feet away from them. He gently took Bubba’s arm and half-smiled. “Well,” he said quietly, “in a few more days we’ll probably know for sure.”

 

Shelby wanted to go back out walking with Tyler that morning, and Tyler immediately obliged her. 

“So what do you think this island should be named?” She asked.

Tyler thought a moment. “I liked New Atlanta,” he said. “But now that I think about it, not all of us had ties to Atlanta.”

“What did all of you have ties to?”

“Well, that’s just it,” Tyler said. “We have to include you in it too now.”

Shelby laughed. “I guess so, huh?” 

“You’ve seen most of it now,” Tyler said. “What do you think it should be called?”

Shelby looked up at the greenery, the partly clouded blue sky, and the general beauty all around. She heard bird calls and the monkeys playing. 

Then she looked back to Tyler and leaned closer to him. “Paradise,” she whispered with a smile.

Tyler laughed and put an arm casually around her back. “That’s a great name.”

They laughed together until the sun went down.

 

Tyler and Shelby lay on the grass underneath the Fate Tree, staring up at its blossoms. Every now and then, a colorful, soft petal would float down near them. It was like the most beautiful rain Shelby could imagine.

Tyler glanced over at her. “You’re not feeling…down again, are you?”

Shelby half smiled. “No,” she said, and Tyler believed it. “Why would I be?”

Tyler shook his head, shrugging. He couldn’t reply to that.

Shelby didn’t stop smiling. “I’ve got you now.”

Tyler was taken by surprise. He looked back at her, letting out a puff of air. He smiled. “Thanks.”

Shelby sat up then. Staring at her lap, she said, “I know I shouldn’t do this, but…” She lay back down, right up close to Tyler now. 

Tyler chuckled quietly. “Why shouldn’t you?”

“The last guy I curled up to left me a mess.”

“That doesn’t mean I will.”

She grabbed his hand, pulling him up to sit up along with her. She sighed, looking downward.

“Hey,” Tyler said comfortingly, summoning up his courage. He put a gentle finger under her chin and brought her face back up. Their eyes met, and Tyler smiled. Shelby smiled, half-heartedly. Then, giving in, Tyler finally kissed her. 

Shelby braced herself against Tyler’s shoulders, grabbing onto them as she gently fell back to the grass. Tyler braced himself against the ground. He leaned over her, both of them smiling. 

Shelby then pulled Tyler down closer and kissed him again. They rolled over onto their sides, their hands now all over each other. 

Some time later, both of them out of breath, they lay there silently, looking at the blossoms again. Shelby asked Tyler if he’d like to sleep in her shelter.

“Sure,” he replied, even though he knew it wasn’t even finished.

 

Later the next afternoon, Andrelton Simmons retreated to his shelter.

This strange flushing had made his skin very warm, almost feverish, and his head was beginning to ache. Lying down, Chris Johnson came in to check on him.

“I’ll be fine,” Andrelton told him.

“You sure? Do you need anything?”

Andrelton thought for a second, then said, “Some cold water.”

“Got it,” Johnson replied, rushing out the door.

“Hey, where’s Simba?” Freddie Freeman asked Johnson as he passed by him in the clearing, appearing to be in a hurry. 

“He wants some water,” Johnson replied. “I think he might have a fever or headache or something.”

He told Evan Gattis, their other bunkmate, and brought Andrelton the water. Andrelton coughed before thanking him. It was such a relief, both to his throat and his skin. He found himself dozing off, and the others left him in quiet.

 

Andrelton’s dreams were like none he’d ever had before.

He was standing in a field, everything serene and calm as could be. The colors around him were subtle and light, like paint colors for a newborn baby’s room. There was no sun in the sky that he could see, even though it was clearly bright daylight.

Someone threw something toward him. A baseball. Andrelton picked it up off the ground, wondering what was going on. Then he understood.

It was his stepbrother he hadn’t seen since he was fourteen. He ran to Andrelton, yelling something incoherent, but it sounded like he wanted to play. Andrelton threw the ball back to him. When he did he started wondering why things were changing so fast. This was his life, wasn’t it?

Only his stepbrother never played ball with him before. 

 

Later in the evening, the next time anyone checked on Andrelton, Evan came in to find him tossing and turning. He got down to his knees beside him. Andrelton was drenched in sweat, even though the weather wasn’t any hotter than usual. Evan could hear him struggle to breathe. 

He called Johnson in. No one had experienced anything like this since coming to the island. After agreeing on this fact, and not knowing what to do for their bunkmate, they went to fetch Amos Mosquito.

“It looks like some kinda flu, or maybe bad cold,” he said, quietly watching Andrelton. “He looks like he’s burnin’ alive. Get more cold water.”

They did, while several others followed Johnson and Evan, asking them questions about what was going on all along the way. None of their questions were honestly answered.

They stayed with Andrelton the rest of the night, constantly trying to comfort him as he lay there, tortured and helpless in his fiery sleep. Jason Heyward came in later and took in the situation. 

 

It became more and more dire as the night continued. Luis Avilan went to bed with a headache, but he didn’t tell anyone, including his bunkmates. They noticed that he was quieter than usual, though, before going to bed.

Several other islanders hung in and around Andrelton’s shelter late into the night. They could only watch his condition worsen as his previously tan skin grew paler and he sweated so much he started looking like he’d lost some weight. His tossing and turning slowly subsided after some time. The one who stayed by his side every moment was Johnson.

He grasped Andrelton’s limp hand, feeling his throat tighten. It was now very late. They kept cold water on Andrelton at all times, and Amos had given him a natural remedy, but it didn’t seem to help. 

After a couple more hours had passed and dawn wasn’t far off, Andrelton still hadn’t woken up. Johnson, absentmindedly placing an exhausted hand on Andrelton’s belly, finally realized he wasn’t breathing. 

 

The news sent a ripple throughout camp. Andrelton Simmons was no longer with them. No one could believe it. The next day there would be a funeral. 

Johnson couldn’t cry. He was definitely the closest person to Andrelton for the last several years. His world had been torn apart, and there were no words. Just the hushed whispers and long faces scattered throughout camp. 

Alex Wood stood next to David Carpenter, watching, as Andrelton’s body was brought out and prepared for burial by Amos and Jason. He struggled to hold back tears as he vividly remembered Jordan Schafer’s death. He buried his face in David’s shoulder. David held him gently. It had happened too fast.

A couple of notable absences from the funeral procession were Luis Avilan and Kris Medlen. Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters went back to check on Medlen some time after getting up. Medlen hadn’t gotten up at all. He’d fallen asleep very late last night, but the rest of them weren’t _that_ tired. They noticed his forehead was very warm and his breathing sounded rushed and shallow, and Amos came to see him as soon as he’d seen Luis.

Luis was doing much worse since last night. He still slept, covered in sweat, pale, and breathing haggardly, much like Andrelton had been. Every now and then he would cough, and little droplets of a dark liquid would splatter on his chest and around his head.

“Oh my god,” Ramiro Pena said, seeing him upon entering the shelter. 

Amos shook his head, his voice melancholy. “I’m afraid he’s got the same thing Simba had.”

Ramiro and Ervin Santana, his other bunkmates, exchanged glances and hugged each other. 

 

Luis didn’t last the afternoon.

Just as they had finished preparing Andrelton for burial, they now had another one, and the actual funeral itself would have to wait. 

Halfway through preparing for the funeral Evan Gattis started to complain of tiredness and a headache. He went back to bed with some cold water. Medlen’s condition was also worsening, and Alice Minor-Beachy had begun coughing. Her parents kept begging Amos to do something, quickly.

By this time, Johnson felt quite numb.

 

Less than twenty-four hours later, Evan Gattis and Kris Medlen had joined the mass funeral, in the same manner as Andrelton Simmons. It still hadn’t taken place yet because of all the sudden developments and general frenzy. Everyone else was going through the motions at this point, and there wasn’t a smile to be seen anywhere. Johnson’s shelter was empty now, and it felt even hollower to him than on the surface. 

He stood alone in there, glancing over at what used to be his and Andrelton’s bed. Flashing before his eyes were all the times they spent together, right there, pleasing each other well into the night, nothing holding them back. 

Never again. _Why, nature?_

He was fairly sure he felt more angry than depressed. He looked to the door of the empty shelter and went to it. Surveying the clearing, he saw most of the others either making preparations for the funeral or caring for the currently sick. Alice’s condition stayed fairly the same, her coughing now starting to produce traces of blood. Everywhere Johnson looked people were covered in sweat, hair and clothes unwashed, eyes sad, tired and droopy.

His piercing blue gaze wandered to the La Stella brothers, Tommy and Kelly. Work on their shelter had been brought to a halt. Some primal urge seized him as he stared at the youngest of the La Stellas. 

He went out into the clearing, stone-faced. 

 

Ten minutes later Johnson held the squirming Kelly with his back against the wall of his empty shelter. 

“I know, I’m not myself,” Johnson breathed heavily, looking down at Kelly with eyes that must have been inhuman. “But these are hardly ordinary times. If you just open your mind a little…you might even enjoy it.” He made a tiny grin as he squeezed Kelly’s arms, leaned down, and kissed his lips, somewhat roughly. 

Kelly steadied himself against the larger man, not knowing what to do. He’d never been pursued this way before. He didn’t think Tommy or anybody else had seen Johnson persuasively pulling him toward the empty shelter. 

But Johnson was an adult, and now they lived together. It might bring them closer together in this tough time. It might be good for them both.

Kelly, not seeing the harm in it, started to tentatively kiss Johnson back. 

Johnson then brought them to his bed, and now Kelly knew there was no going back. He made an _oomph_ sound as Johnson thrust him down on his back, looming over him, as he pulled at his clothes. As they came off Kelly started to feel less and less secure, and Johnson, sensing it somehow, leaned down and kissed him again. Kelly tentatively reached up and brushed Johnson’s face with his fingertips, feeling his light facial hair, trying to reassure himself that it was alright. 

But then Johnson continued, almost methodically, with one of his favorite activities: getting off. Only this time, it was more a raw, biological need that he was satisfying, like hunger. And it made him feel more amazing than usual, given the circumstances.

Johnson penetrated him with ease despite Kelly being very small. Kelly tried to be brave and not yell out at the top of his lungs, but some sound escaped him and he didn’t know if anyone outside heard. He dug his nails into the bedding, squeezing his eyes shut until he thought they might be squished themselves. He barely heard the taboo noises Johnson made as they rocked back and forth. He thought the shelter was going to eventually fall down around them.

After a while Kelly thought it would never end. He was shocked when he found himself getting off as well as Johnson. As Johnson was finishing Kelly let out one last moan and went limp as a rag. 

Both were silent as Johnson backed away and retrieved his clothes from the floor. Kelly still lay motionless on the bed.

Johnson stared at him once he was dressed. It was like he didn’t know what to say at first, then he found his voice: “You’d better get dressed now.”

The voice was deep, and Kelly flinched when he heard it. He quickly got up, scrambling to retrieve his clothes, and got them on. He glanced up at Johnson one last time, who wouldn’t meet his gaze, then hung his head and left the shelter.

 

“Mike? Do you have any ideas?” Brandon asked his husband.

“I’m afraid not.”

Alice was beginning to tire earlier than normal. They looked down at their daughter, lying in her bed in their shelter, helpless. They had been keeping her hydrated, but she didn’t seem to be able to kick this bloody cough, and now she was sleeping more than normal. Mike and Brandon were out of ideas, and so was Amos Mosquito.

“I don’t know what to do,” Brandon whispered. Mike thought he saw a tear drip off his husband’s face.

 

Ervin Santana sat up abruptly in bed. He was covered in sweat, and his dreadlocks were a mess, but thank goodness he didn’t have a fever and he felt fine. But for how much longer?

Ramiro Pena lay next to him, sound asleep. He touched the younger man’s forehead gently. Normal temperature. _Phew._ It was only a dream. 

But now he knew how likely it was that that nightmare of his would come true. 

Ervin shook his head. Just that afternoon Justin Upton had gone to bed, ill, with the same symptoms as the others. In his sleep he had seen Ramiro die, and Jason, and Bubba, and Luis – again. And finally, he himself was falling to the ground, feverish in his despair. He knew in his heart still that the baby, Alice, also had the epidemic.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t watch any more of his family die.

He got up out of bed and went to the door. Tripping on his way out, he thought he heard Ramiro mumble from behind him, “Erv?”

He didn’t look back. Taking off across the clearing, he breathlessly headed straight for the shoreline where the _Stella_ was anchored. 

“Erv, what are you doing?”

He turned around just as he was sloshing through the water, about to climb up to the deck. “Ramiro, go back to bed!”

“ _You_ come back to bed!”

“Ervin!” Several of the others had followed Ramiro there and now stood on the beach. _“Ervin!”_ Ervin ignored them and boarded the _Stella_ , raising the anchor as quickly as he could. A tear dripped down his cheek as the boat lurched. He watched his family scramble around, bringing out a raft made of logs. Several, including Jason and Ramiro, jumped onto it and set off on the water after him, screaming the whole way. “I can’t take it anymore,” Ervin called. 

“Come back, Erv!” Ramiro cried.

“Ramiro, you have to understand,” Ervin yelled back. “This is my survival instinct!” 

“Erv, look out!”

_“Whoa!”_ Ervin flailed to the deck. He had lost control of the brig and now the _Stella_ was dangerously close to capsizing.

And Ervin knew he couldn’t swim.

He frantically grabbed the railing at the edge of the deck. Scrabbling for a better grip, he looked out to see where the others’ raft was, but it was too far away by now. The _Stella_ finally capsized in a wave, a fair distance off the shore, and Ervin was tossed down into the water. 

_“Ervin!”_ He heard one last scream. He thought it was Ramiro, but wasn’t sure. The water started lapping around his ears, and his sense of hearing slowly went away. The boat was out of reach. He flailed his arms around, trying to discover the secret to swimming in the last few seconds before it was too late. But then his head dipped under the next wave that was crashing toward him, and pretty soon, a sharp pain had filled his chest. But as quickly as it had come, it dissipated, and Ervin opened his eyes (or did he?) to see blackness.

 

The next day, a new memorial was arranged in the cemetery. Everyone had gloomy looks on their faces. Ramiro was inconsolable, convinced that it was all his fault. It was as if the previous night were some kind of nightmare. Only it wasn’t, and there was no getting Ervin back. 

Bubba kept very close to Gavin the entire day. Her morning sickness hadn’t gone away. They were quite sure of it at this point: Bubba was pregnant.

But it only mattered if she could survive the epidemic, so they told no one yet. 

Justin Upton lay in his shelter on the brink of death all afternoon, his breathing getting shallower and his skin getting paler, and later in the evening, he finally succumbed and joined the others in eternal silence. 

“When is this ever going to end?” Mike Minor said, pacing back and forth inside his and Brandon’s shelter. Alice was only getting worse as time had passed. While the others who got the flu died within twelve to twenty-four hours or so, Alice was lingering on for several days, only getting gradually sicker. 

“Maybe it means she’ll survive it,” Brandon said tentatively.

“Brandon, look at her,” Mike countered. She lay in her crib-bed, coughing up small droplets of blood on everything, breathing heavily, tossing back and forth like she was restless, and her previously tan skin becoming markedly paler. Mike blinked sadly. “She’s not – she’s not going to make it. It’s only because she’s so young.”

“Well what do you expect anyone to do?” Brandon asked, now upset. 

Mike swallowed. “There’s…nothing else we can do but…euthanize her.”

Brandon did a double-take at his husband. “What?”

“You heard,” Mike said. “Put her out of this suffering.”

“Mike!”

“I can’t stand to watch this!” He slapped both his hands onto his head. “Surely it would be better – right? What would you want, if you were in her position?”

Brandon looked sadly to their daughter, sweat streaming down her forehead. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. 

Mike took one more look at them and left the shelter.

“Hey, Mike, is everything okay?” Freddie Freeman asked as he entered the clearing. “I thought I heard some…raised voices…”

Mike sighed before saying, “It’s Alice. It’s apparent now she’s…not going to be getting better. We think it’s just affecting her differently because she’s so young. I can’t stand to watch her suffer anymore.”

Freddie nodded. “Want to talk to Amos or Jason?”

Mike looked to Freddie. “Yeah.”

 

“So you think we should put her out of her misery.”

“I don’t see what other option we have,” Mike told Jason Heyward. “I don’t know exactly how much pain she’s in, but it looks like a hell of a lot. I would rather take it from her and go through it myself, but I can’t do that, and I don’t want her to suffer.”

Jason’s big brown eyes seemed to bore through Mike. “And who would undertake this task?”

Mike looked from Jason to Amos. That thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. “I don’t know. But not me.”

“It was your idea,” Amos said. “I’ve done some things I ain’t exactly proud of, but I don’t intend to make euthanizin’ a baby one of them.”

“B-but she’s my daughter,” Mike said. “I couldn’t-”

“Then find someone else,” Jason said simply. 

After Mike left the shelter, dejected, Amos whispered to Jason, “Animals, other prey, sure, but one of our own? I don’t think so. It just ain’t in my programmin’. An’ I don’t think it’s in his, either.”

 

That evening, David Hale went to bed ill as Mike talked to everyone else in the village about possibly helping him to euthanize Alice. Not one of them wanted to lay a finger on her. 

He went back to his shelter, where Alice was sleeping soundly. Brandon watched.

“Brandon, no one on this island wants to euthanize her.”

“Except?”

Mike sighed. “The things they said – I just don’t get it. I don’t want her to suffer anymore. Don’t the others?”

“I’m sure they don’t,” Brandon replied. “But sometimes, there really is nothing we can do. What did Amos say?”

“That it was my idea, so I’d have to be the one.”

Brandon’s half-lidded eyes rested on Alice. He went over to her. “She’s not suffering now.”

Mike followed, resting a hand on Brandon’s shoulder. 

 

Mike woke up in the middle of the night, covered in sweat and panting loudly. He’d seen Alice die in his dream, and he couldn’t take it. Tears dripped down his face, falling to his lap unseen in the dark. 

He looked past Brandon to their baby. She was still sleeping soundly from earlier in the evening. He crawled from the bed and went to her, watched her. She would wake up tomorrow or later and cough – that awful, bloody cough. Her skin would become even paler and she would be weaker still. She would waste away until she was just a skeleton – slowly.

Mike gently lifted her from her crib and took her outside. Retrieving his stone knife from his pocket, he set Alice down gently on the ground and hovered over her. She didn’t wake up. 

He couldn’t take his eyes from her peaceful, still form. She was so helpless. Mike smoothed her light brown hair from her sweaty forehead. Behind his back he grazed the tip of his knife with his forefinger. Could he make it quick enough to be worth it?

He brought it out, directly over Alice’s heart. Unwittingly, Mike’s hand started to tremble. He put his other hand behind the girl’s neck to support it, to try to steady himself, but to no avail. His fingers felt like they were made of stone and the knife was rattling around in his hand. Another tear dripped off his face. 

Mike squinted his eyes as he knelt there, holding his daughter under his shaky knife. _Why did it have to come to this?_

Tears. More tears. They flooded Mike’s eyes so quickly they dripped onto Alice as she slept. His hand now shook violently. Finally, he dropped it to the side as if he’d lost the nerves in his fingers suddenly and clutched Alice close against his chest. 

His tears dripped off her already damp head. 

 

The following day, Ramiro Pena had gone to bed ill with the dreaded symptoms, and David Hale had already succumbed to them. Everyone who heard the news groaned to themselves, wondering when it would end and if anyone at all would be left before it was all over. It was a cloudy day, as Tyler Pastornicky remembered. 

He was still staying in the La Stellas’ shelter, which was very slowly getting closer to being finished, with Shelby. He’d found no kind of happiness like this before. They’d giggled and told stories all night long. It helped ease the pain of inexplicably losing so much of the family so fast. 

But this night was to be different than all those other happy nights. 

 

Tyler thought it was probably sometime past midnight. He’d dozed off, Shelby curled up next to him, her breath even and slow in sleep. 

He heard some movement over by the door of the shelter, and when he looked up, he thought he caught a glimpse of the trees outside before the door fell closed in the gloom. Careful not to wake Shelby or Kelly, who also slept nearby, he got up and looked out. 

Two figures retreated off in the direction of the beach, where the _Stella_ used to be anchored. Tyler followed, curious as to whom the other was. One was Tommy La Stella.

They moved quickly, because as Tyler followed by listening for the rustling of leaves and footsteps, he found himself in a jog to keep up. After a few minutes he heard voices – one angry, the other defensive.

 

Tommy La Stella’s back was suddenly flattened against a thick tree trunk. “I knew it,” Dan Uggla snarled in his face. “Well, I…I know it now, anyway!”

“Dan,” Tommy said, quietly shrinking, “what is it you want? I’m sorry!”

“Sorry’s not good enough,” Dan replied, menacingly. “Sorry doesn’t bring back Justin and Evan and Andrelton and all the others!”

“I had no idea this would happen,” Tommy ducked his head as Dan swooped closer to him, firmly planting a thick hand on the tree trunk above his head. 

He grabbed the smaller man’s shirt collar. “Well it did,” Dan said. “And you’re the one that has to pay.”

“Dan, I swear, I had no idea! There’s nothing wrong with us, you have to believe me, _Dan!_ ” Tommy was on the verge of tears as the frightened words gushed from his mouth. Dan forcefully took the smaller man by the wrist and dragged him toward the beach. From his low vantage point Tommy could see Dan carried his stone knife in his other hand. 

 

Tyler broke into a run when he saw the larger man take who must have been Tommy by the wrist and start to drag him. “Hey,” he called out. He was nearly out of breath already. “Hey!”

They ignored him. Tommy was trying his best to get back onto his feet, to no avail. 

 

They cleared the trees, reaching the beach. Dan flung Tommy to the sand like he was a ragdoll. Tommy scrambled to wipe his eyes clean as Dan rattled on about how guilty he was for existing and coming to the island.

“Dan, calm the fuck down! You have to believe me!”

“Why should I believe you? You’re still here, and the others are…are _dead!_ ” he spat the last word down at Tommy as if he were a flea-ridden rat.

“Dan…no,” Tommy panted as he scrabbled around in the sand at Dan’s feet. As his luck would have it, he found a flat, white shell with rough edges nearby. 

Dan bared his knife blade.

 

Tyler broke out of the trees suddenly, sending leaves flying. _“DAN!”_

Even though it was a scream loud enough to be heard across the island, Dan didn’t respond. His angry breath was so loud Tyler could hear it from a few feet away. Dan’s bloodshot eyes were fixed on Tommy La Stella, lying in the sand at his feet. He let out a growl and fell to his knees over him, raising his knife.

Tyler didn’t know what else to do other than plunge forward towards them and try to stop Dan. The reason for it all was becoming clearer in his head. By the time he reached the other two men, it was too late to do anything else. 

The knife descended – right into Tyler’s side.

He had jumped in front of Tommy right as Tommy swung his shell edgeways up and around at the side of Dan’s head. Dan fell off to the side on the impact, blood spilling from his temple – and Tyler lay next to Tommy, bleeding as well. Dan was suddenly still.

Tommy, horrified, pulled the knife as gently and quickly as he could from Tyler’s waist. “Tyler, _Tyler!_ ”

Tyler gasped for breath. “T-Tommy…”

Tommy let out a frightened whimper as he tried frantically to stop the bleeding with Tyler’s shirt. Tyler tried to sit up – but his strength was fading, fast. 

About a minute later several of the others burst through the trees and ran forward towards them. “What was that scream?” Jason wondered aloud, before exclaiming, “Oh, god! What happened?”

Tommy looked up, pure sadness in his eyes. “Dan,” he said, trying to hold back tears. “He tried to kill me, but Tyler…he…” He couldn’t finish.

“Tyler!” Shelby La Stella cried, running to him and falling to her knees beside him. She took in his wound with shock, then looked back to her brother. “He took it f-for – for you?”

Tommy nodded, his hands on his head. 

She took Tyler’s hand as he lay there, slowly fading away. “Tyler,” she said, “Tyler, please.”

“Shelby,” he whispered. 

A tear dripped down Shelby’s face. Tyler brought his other trembling hand up over his side, but Shelby stopped him. “It’ll be okay.” She didn’t know if she was telling him, or herself. “It’ll be okay!”

Tyler’s face was starting to turn a little paler than normal. “Shelby, I…I had a wonderful time…with you.”

Shelby shook her head. “Tyler, don’t talk like that!”

He squeezed her hand with what little strength he had left. Jason came over and looked at his wound. It was too wide to be stopped up with a piece of cloth, and Tyler had already lost a lot of blood.

“Tyler!” Shelby cried, more tears appearing around her eyes. She shook her head. “Tyler, I’m pregnant!”

All the others looked suddenly to her as Tyler whispered, with a tiny smile, “I’m sure you’ll have a beautiful child.” He sucked in his breath then and winced at a new rush of pain.

“Jason, can’t we do anything?” Someone else asked.

Jason shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid there’s really nothing. Get him some water to drink.”

Someone brought the water as Shelby sat there, begging Tyler to live. He only turned paler and became even weaker. Jason turned his gaze to Tommy. “Dan had been expressing his dislike of you guys ever since Simba got sick,” he said. “He had suspected you of bringing the sickness.” 

Tommy looked at the ground. Dan’s still form lay a mere foot away. Somehow, he had still managed to hold back his tears. “Sometimes I wonder if he was right.”

“Tyler!” Shelby cried as his eyes started to flutter closed. His breathing slowed, and Shelby bent over him, unable to hold back the tears now. 

 

Just mere moments after Tyler was gone, Julio Teheran and Alex Wood appeared out of the trees. 

“Alex!” David Carpenter exclaimed from the beach. He had beaten them there, Julio realized – along with Chris Johnson, who had been standing next to him.

“David?” Alex asked, puzzled. “Where were you? When we heard that scream, you weren’t in our shelter.” He took in the scene on the beach. “Oh, no!”

David scratched the back of his neck, making his way over to them. “Uh…” he muttered. “Tyler – he’s dead!” David conveniently changed the subject.

Alex’s face darkened. “I see,” he said sadly. “You didn’t have anything to do with this…did you?”

“Of course not,” David replied quickly.

“Then what were you and Johnson doing here together? Julio and I were looking all over for you.” He motioned with his hands.

David’s eyes darted back and forth. “What?” he asked, trying to sound appalled. “Me and Johnson?”

Julio’s eyes narrowed then. He studied Johnson, who had this blank, detached look on his face. He didn’t look very tired, even though it was the middle of the night. For that matter, David didn’t look too tired, either. Both of their hairs were awfully tousled…

“They were together,” Julio said emotionlessly. He then remembered that Johnson lived alone now.

Alex’s head snapped back toward his husband. “David?” He said, in a voice that was nearly a whisper. “Is…is that true?”

David shook his head, regret pouring through him. “Alex…”

Alex shook his head then. Julio caught him by the shoulders when he took a step backward. Everyone else there, watching it all unfold, was eerily quiet. 

“We’ll be going now,” Julio said quietly, barely audible over the waves of the ocean, and he guided the stunned Alex back into the trees toward camp. 

 

After everyone was filled in on exactly what had happened on the beach, they made preparations to bury Dan and Tyler. Shelby never stopped crying, thinking about her baby that would never know its brave young father. 

David had turned to Johnson and lowered his voice as everyone was clearing out. “Why, Johnson? Why does it always have to be those animal instincts of yours?”

Johnson took offense. He leaned closer. “Listen, I told you, Alex was never going to know. How was I supposed to know Dan was going to go pull _this?_ On this one specific night?”

“Well now it’s going to cost me my marriage,” David said, anger creeping into his voice. “I hope you’re happy.”

Johnson rubbed the top of his head in frustration and turned away.

 

Amos Mosquito hadn’t gone to the beach to see what the commotion was that night. He was sure he’d hear about it when all the others came back to camp. The truth was, he hadn’t been feeling too well that night. He didn’t think it had been much more than an hour after that awful scream that Julio Teheran came over to pay him a visit.

“Ye’re lucky I wasn’t asleep,” Amos said tiredly. “It hasn’t been coming that easy recently anyway.”

“I know, Amos,” Julio replied. “For more reasons than one.”

“Well, you lookin’ for company, or what? I ain’t really the best choice, you know. Somethin’ hurtin’ you? You ain’t sick now, are you?”

“Oh, no, thank goodness,” Julio said. “It’s…” He shook his head. Then, with a hint of guilt, “Could I get a cup of that moonshine you’re always making?”

Amos held Julio’s gaze for a moment before saying, “I suppose. But only if you spill the beans on what’s troublin’ ya.” He painstakingly got up from bed. “Now I know somethin’s _really_ botherin’ ya if ye’re asking for ’shine in the middle a’ the night for the first time.”

Julio sighed before saying, quieter, “It’s Alex. David…he was sleeping with Johnson earlier after we’d fallen asleep.”

Amos was visibly taken aback. “Johnson?”

“Yes,” Julio said sadly. “Alex just now fell back asleep, but I couldn’t. I mean, it’s just awful. All the sickness, death, murder, and now this?” He took a seat a few feet from the door. “What are we supposed to live for, now? We’ve lost so much…even our marriages.”

The sound of pouring liquid filled the room. Julio got up, took the wooden cup from Amos, and thanked him. “One cup tonight,” Amos said. “That’s it.” He sighed. “Sometimes…I think the only reason we carry on is because we have hope.”

“Hope?”

“Yeah. Hope that things will get better and all this crap’ll pass.” He coughed, going back to bed. “Some people say that to hope in a hard time like this is crazy, but it’s the only way things _will_ get better.”

 

Julio sat there, thinking about what Amos had said. It didn’t make sense to have hope. The pain he felt, the pain they all felt, just seemed like too much to bear. 

He could tell Amos had fallen asleep by his steady, slow breathing. It had barely been ten minutes since he’d gotten back in bed. Julio stood, his cup of moonshine empty, and went to put it back when another thought entered his head.

Taking caution to be extra quiet, he went over to the gourd jug of moonshine, which sat under the table. Removing the lid he slowly poured himself another cupful. Since Amos lived alone now and everyone else was back asleep, no one disturbed him until several hours later, after dawn.

 

Alex Wood gently pulled open the door of Amos Mosquito’s shelter after calling and not receiving an answer. He had woken up alone that morning, which never happened – a tangible sign of the multiple tragedies of the previous night. It made him feel extra down.

But when he went inside, his heart thudded violently for a different reason.

“Julio!” He cried, going to his bunkmate.

Julio lay in disarray on the floor of Amos’ shelter, unconscious, a cup and some spilled moonshine lying near his hand. Amos was still asleep in his bed. 

Alex went to Julio, shaking him, trying to get him to wake up. “Julio, no…” Alex sobbed, fearing the worst. “Amos?” He asked tentatively, going to the elder. He seemed uncomfortable, like his eyes were going crazy under their lids, and restless in his sleep. His forehead was very hot when Alex touched it. 

He glanced over at the moonshine jug which sat nearby. Picking it up, he saw it was very nearly empty. Grabbing Julio’s cup, he poured the rest and drank it down himself. Then he went to go get Jason.

 

“I think he might pull out of it,” Jason said nearly twenty minutes later. “He must have drunk most of it on an empty stomach. That’s a recipe for disaster, but he’s young and strong.”

Julio lay on his bed back in his shelter with a select few gathered around, including Alex. They poured lots of water down his throat, and he gagged a few times, but got some down. Not long after, he was blinking awake.

“Ugh,” Julio moaned. “My…head.”

“Get something cool for him,” Jason told someone else. “And some food. And somebody else, go check on Amos!”

“Julio,” Alex said, coming up close. “Why’d you do it, Julio? I was so…scared.”

Julio sighed. “I…couldn’t take the pain, I guess.”

 

David emerged in the doorway of his, Alex, and Julio’s shelter later that morning with an ashamed look on his face. Everyone else had cleared out to let Julio nap. He rolled over in his bed while Alex got up to face David immediately. 

“David,” Alex said in a pained voice.

“Alex, I’m sorry,” David burst out, going to Alex and falling to a knee. “I am…so ashamed and full of regret now that I realize what I’ve done. I just want you to know that I love _you_ , and that’s why I married _you_. Anything I feel for Johnson, or anybody else, is…physical. And that’s it.” He grabbed Alex’s hand. 

Alex stared down at his husband in his pleadingly submissive position when a soft voice at the door said, “Hey, guys? Mind if I come in?”

The door was pulled back slowly. It was Johnson.

“Hey, listen, guys, I feel terrible,” he gushed as he came inside. “But I know a way that we can get over it.” Alex made a puzzled face as they looked to him. “I messed this up, and I can fix it.” Johnson looked to Alex. “Alex, if you sleep with me, then you’ll both have slept with me, and you’ll be on equal ground.” 

There was a shocked silence. Then Alex stuttered, “Wh-what?”

“David slept with me, so it would only be fair if you slept with me also. It’s the only thing I can think of. I know y’all don’t want a divorce, and I feel guilty about what happened. It was my fault and my doing, and now I want to help. What do you think?”

Alex shook his head in confusion. The thought really had never entered his mind, and thinking about it now, it seemed to make a little bit of sense, as crazy as it sounded. The truth was, he was more depressed about the whole situation than angry, and he was willing to try anything to fix it. Especially since even Julio had taken it so hard as well.

He looked down to David. The surprise at the suggestion was plain on his face but David didn’t seem opposed to the idea. “Alex,” he whispered. “If you want to do it, do it. I won’t hold it against you or him…I want to save this marriage.”

“I do too,” Alex whispered back. 

David stood up and faced him. “Then go,” he whispered, leaning closer. “Do him. For me.”

“Are you sure? This is crazy.”

“Never been surer in all my life.” David gently leaned forward and pecked Alex’s cheek. “We’ll both have slept with him. So what?”

It sounded so funny, Alex thought at first that it was too comical an idea to work. But then he saw the gentle, pleading look in David’s eyes. “Alright,” he said tentatively. 

His gaze slowly went to Johnson. He stood there, an eager-to-please look on his face, intense blue eyes gleaming. 

Alex broke away from David and slowly walked over to Johnson. 

 

He brought Alex to his shelter, no one asking any questions as Johnson led Alex by the hand. Once Johnson closed the door flap behind them he turned to face the younger man. “Well,” he started, drawing close and putting his arms around Alex’s shoulders, “care to come to bed?”

Alex thought of David as he looked into Johnson’s eyes. “Alright,” he said quietly. 

“Come on, Alex,” Johnson said, trying to loosen him up. “Cheer up.” Johnson lay down and pulled Alex over on top of him, going for his lips. He wrapped a hand around the back of Alex’s head while Alex steadied himself against Johnson’s shoulder. Their lips brushed lightly before Alex shoved back.

Johnson’s eyes went wide as Alex suddenly sat back up, pushing off of him. “I can’t!”

“Wh-what?” Johnson asked, shocked, as Alex got up and headed for the door. “Wait, Alex!”

 

Alex burst back into his own shelter. David looked up abruptly.

“David,” Alex said, and went straight for his husband, who sat on the floor by Julio’s bed. He sat right next to him, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed his lips, hard.

David was so shocked he could hardly kiss back. When Alex pulled back and met his eyes David asked, “Alex, what happened?”

“I couldn’t do it,” he replied, breathlessly. “I couldn’t have sex with him. I love you!”

“But Alex, I thought-”

“It doesn’t matter!” He pulled David even closer, if that was possible, and kissed him again. 

 

It seemed that David’s and Alex’s romance wasn’t the only love that thrived in the world of illness and death that had become the island. Earlier that morning, Gavin Floyd had asked Bubba Ivory to marry him. 

Word spread across camp at the same time that Ramiro Pena had not survived his illness, Alice Minor-Beachy’s breathing had slowed, and Amos Mosquito found he couldn’t get up out of bed.

 

“Amos!” Bubba cried, going to his bed with Gavin and Joy in tow.

“…Bubba,” Amos croaked, his voice hoarse. He coughed, careful to keep it contained under the covers. “I’m…glad you’re here.”

“Amos, please don’t go,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “Please don’t die.”

“Bubba, enough of that,” he said, stifling another cough. “You know I…always hated to see you cry.”

“Amos,” she started with conviction, trying to hold back tears, “even though you did some…not very nice things to me in the past, I want you to know I…always sort of liked you…anyway.”

Amos managed a smile and wiped his eyes. “Good,” he said.

“And…me and Gavin have made a promise to each other. We’re gettin’ married.”

Amos’ eyebrows went up, but he didn’t look upset at all. In fact, he looked rather positively about it.

“I’m glad fer ya.”

“Y-you are?”

“Bubba, it ain’t no secret that I ain’t long for this world. You deserve…to be happy. That’s all that matters now.”

“Amos, you were more like a father to me!”

“An’ you were more like my rebellious teenage daughter, now I think about it.” He coughed, blood staining the underside of his blanket this time. “And there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.”

“Amos!” Bubba started to cry over him. Gavin came over with Joy and put an arm on her back. 

“I’d rather…it’ a been me than you.” Amos wiped his sweaty forehead and pulled the blanket up further around him. “Thanks fer…the time you did give me.”

He drifted off to sleep again as Bubba, Gavin and Joy sat by him, not letting him die alone.

 

Alice Minor-Beachy passed away that same day as Amos and Ramiro had. The mass funerals had long ago become commonplace, and several of the survivors were already wondering if there would be anyone left by the time it was all said and done. 

But for now, they had to at least act like it was all said and done, because it was time for a happy event to finally take place on Paradise Island.

 

Jason Heyward, David Carpenter, Alex Wood, and Julio Teheran (who had recovered quite nicely, to everyone’s relief) helped out with the wedding planning for Bubba and Gavin. They chose a beautiful, sunny afternoon. Everyone could attend, because at this point, no one else had fallen ill. 

They set up the spot on the beach not far from where Alex and David were married. When the ceremony finally got underway, everyone huddled closer together and sat on their logs in anticipation.

Bubba looked beautiful. There were white flowers around her neck, and her rusty-red hair glowed in the light of the sun. Gavin and most of the others beamed.

“Bubba Ivory,” Jason started, standing at the front between them, “do you take Gavin Floyd to be your husband?”

“I do,” she said excitedly.

Gavin said I do, and the two of them hugged and kissed. Joy, who sat in the front row, clapped happily, and the rest of the islanders likewise rejoiced. Alex Wood was so happy he leaned over and kissed David, who sat next to him, and then leaned the other way and kissed Julio, who sat opposite! 

Everyone shared a good laugh and congratulated Bubba and Gavin. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Bubba made an announcement: “I’m havin’ another baby!”

 

And she did – a beautiful little girl named Georgia. Gavin insisted on the name. “It reminds me of our time in Atlanta,” he said. Georgia Floyd-Ivory had her mother’s rusty red hair and Gavin’s blue eyes. 

By the time she was born, eight and a half months after her parents’ wedding, the illness that had plagued them was forgotten, but not the great people whose lives it claimed, including Tyler Pastornicky, whose son was born not long after Georgia. 

 

Shelby had been spending lots of time in the water. It made her feel more weightless, more buoyant. With the baby inside her growing to be quite large, the gentle waves felt like a massage to her achy back. 

She was in the water on a beautiful sunny afternoon, not far off the shore in her favorite spot to swim, when she felt a rush deep in her belly. Clutching her stomach, she realized it was time. 

She called out to Kelly, who was swimming near her, and taking his hand, they slowly and carefully headed for shore. Shelby suddenly felt exhausted and collapsed gently (with Kelly’s help) to the sand just above the tide. Kelly shouted with the best of them to alert the others at camp. Soon enough, everyone showed up at the scene. Tommy and Kelly held their sister’s hands as she labored for a few hours, with a couple of the others shading and fanning her with big leaves. Later, as the sun dipped only a little ways from the horizon, Shelby finally held in her arms a big, light blond baby boy. 

She was crying by that time – tears of joy. Everyone crowded around to get a look at the newest little one, especially his two proud uncles. 

“What’s his name?” Tommy asked quietly.

Shelby never took her eyes off the baby. “I’ve been thinking,” she said, a tear dripping off her face, “there’s only one name for a baby like this. His name is Ty…Ty Pastornicky.” 

Baby Ty opened his bright blue eyes. He looked just like his father.

“We’ll tell him all about his brave dad,” Kelly said. He smiled at Tommy and Shelby.

“Yes,” she replied. “Yes we will.”

 

A few months later, to everyone’s absolute joy, Brandon Beachy gave birth again.

Holding Mike’s hand the entire time, it felt easier this time for Brandon, for some reason. All he could see in his mind was a cute, tan little girl with brown hair and her father’s hazel eyes. As he squeezed Mike’s hand in one final push, he knew his dream had come true.

Mike beamed with delight as he held up the tiny baby girl for everyone to see. She looked so much like Alice it was as if she had come back. Brandon couldn’t help but shed a tear when he saw her and took her in his arms.

“She’s not Alice,” Mike whispered to Brandon, “but she’s pretty damn close.”

Brandon only let out a happy puff of air in Mike’s face, smiling from ear to ear. “We’ll never replace Alice,” he said. 

“Are you going to name her after Alice?” Someone else asked as Brandon held their newest baby.

He thought a moment. “I remember my mom always used to love lilies,” he said softly, as if he were telling the baby a story. “They were her favorites.” He stroked the girl’s fine, brown hair. “But when there weren’t any lilies growing in our old yard, she would pick the amaryllises that did grow.” He looked up at Mike. “I thought they were just as lovely.”

“It’s a beautiful name,” he agreed.

Brandon squeezed Amaryllis closer, and Mike hugged them both – while the rest of the family gathered around. Somewhere, they all knew, several other faces were also smiling with them.


End file.
